Objective - One of the important roles of a brand is to help consumers in developing their self-identity (Escalas & Bettman, 2003). Hence, consumers may select a brand for reasons far beyond its functional benefit (McDonald & Wilson, 2011). Previous research has found that social networks allow consumers to show their "ideal self" (Schau & Gilly, 2003). To identify the relationships between brands and consumers' self-identity, this study aims to examine the effect of self-expressive brands towards brand love, brand advocacy through word of mouth, and brand advocacy acceptance, in the social media context.

Methodology/Technique - The sample in this study is comprised of social media (Facebook) users who have liked, commented and shared social media content related to a particular brand within a 6 month period. A total of 225 valid samples were collected. The data was processed using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM).

Findings - The results of this study show that both self-expressive brands (inner self) and self-expressive brands (social self) have a positive effect to brand love. Brand love has a positive effect on brand advocacy through word of mouth and brand advocacy acceptance. The results also show that self-expressive brands (inner self) have a positive effect on brand advocacy acceptance, but it does not have an effect to brand advocacy through word of mouth. On the other hand, self-expressive brands (social self) have a positive effect on brand advocacy through word of mouth, but does not have an effect on brand advocacy acceptance.

Type of Paper - Empirical.

Keywords: Brand Advocacy; Word of Mouth; Brand Love; Social Media; Self-expressive Brands.

JEL Classification: M31, M37, M39.

URI: http://gatrenterprise.com/GATRJournals/JMMR/vol5.3_7.html

DOI: https://doi.org/10.35609/jmmr.2020.5.3(7)

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